What was I thinking…. I played football(American), basketball, tennis, and I was on the swim team in high school. I’m familiar with sports but I never played soccer. My son loves the game and has played for several seasons now but this year the league had a big shortage on volunteers and my son begged and begged me to sign up so I did thinking I would be an assistant coach or something but no they game me a team. I don’t watch competitive soccer on TV I’m personally not that big into the sport all my time is spent crying over the 49ers and the Kings… I have ordered the equivalent of “coaching kids soccer for idiots” and I have less than 3 weeks to figure this out
TL:DR I don’t know Jack about coaching soccer…son convinced me to volunteer… thought I would be an assistant or helper…got picked as a head coach…. In way over my head…
Comments
Just watch Ted Lasso, you will be fine
Start watching Ted Lasso and find a friend with a beard.
How old is your son? Little kids soccer is intuitive, you’ll know more than the kids just because you’re an adult. If they’re 8+ then you start having actual positions, but still you can get the basics down pretty quick
Lol, join the team, we have jackets made.
What age group?
just embody Ted Lasso in all aspects of your life moving forward
Good luck! It’s good you played sports back in high school atleast, you have that going for you. You can do it! Hopefully your son is on the younger side so it won’t count as much. Parents tend to step up (sometimes) so be aware of those who seem even somewhat interested in helping out and recruit them.
Just keep the kids active during practice not standing in line.
So split them up into 3-4 different small groups and rotate among different small group activities.
This is the most important principle for coaching any sport.
The kids will improve just through repetition and activity instead of standing in line 90% of the time.
YouTube has videos of drills and practices. You may not feel confident about it, but you have the tools you need to be a good coach.
At their age, they’re not looking for technical proficiency. They just want have a team sport where they can learn a few things and enjoy being able to play.
I would add that getting the general rules down would be essential though.
And play some soccer video games just for kicks with your kid.
Imagine how hard it would be to coach a real NBA team. Then imagine how much easier it would be to coach the Kings to another 30 win season.
You’re coaching kids soccer here, not Arsenal FC, I bet you got this!
My dad did this one year for my sister’s softball league. He’d never had any interest in softball or baseball. I think he might have played some summer ball when he was a kid. He only begrudgingly agreed to coach.
Then he did an amazing job at it. He had those kids working their asses off every afternoon all summer, and then they won every single game and won the championship. He ended up being super proud about it. But it was a ton of work and he never did it again.
Don’t panic. The most important thing to know is that you’ll be your kids hero for doing this regardless of if your team wins or losses.
You didn’t say how old the kids are and that may change things for strategy but you’ll have weeks of just teaching them fundamentals. YouTube has a lot of age appropriate drills. Start there. Otherwise what you learned in football and basketball about teamwork/passing and running plays is very relevant to soccer. Next find an assistant coach who’s into soccer that can help out (a beard is a bonus). You don’t have to know it all so lean in to the ACs. Next would be to read the rule book three times through. Good luck hero!
Drill first touch, passing, shooting and triangle. Or just let them run around and have fun. 😂
At that age, play is pretty basic. Make 3 lines forwards, mid and full back. Stick someone in net. Teach them how do throwins. get another parent to be an assistant. Play as much as you practice, stopping to tell,them what to do or not do.
When I grew up, my dad coached my brothers team, he got research materials of soccer drills on video, or soccer strategies on video to learn what he should coach. Start with exercise to get blood flowing, then skills drills, try to end practice with something fun, scrimmage or penalty shots where everyone plays goalie and everyone takes a shot, Conner up with an goal for the team to reach, if they reach out, you do an exercise like 50 jumping jacks, if they lose they do it.
Some of the above works better for the younger kids, but competition of a goal is always engaging
Oh man, I feel you.
Several seasons in a row I ended up at the kids’ coach for one reason it another. A couple of times the coach just bailed and I was the only English speaking dad with a little free time. But at least I played a bit as a kid and watched the sport.
If you want help with a few of the basics like, literally, what do you can the positions and how do formations work feel free to DM me.
Good luck!
Presumably this is a rec league? This is extremely normal in rec leagues. (Development leagues you pay a lot more, which pays for coaches who know what they’re doing.) Just keep them moving. Do some sharks & minnows, a bunch of scrimmaging.
US Soccer does have some videos you can watch, and if you Google like “U10 soccer practice” there are tons of websites that will give you ideas. (Though, at 9, a lot of the time the kids won’t follow some complicated drill and you’ll feel like you wasted the research.)
But mostly just keep them moving.
How old is the kid?
I coached my kid’s team and I played ZERO sports before. They were littles, though, so it was mostly teaching them drills.
Hopefully there is a session teaching the coaches some fundamentals of how they want it done.
At that age, I think you’re still likely in the “spread out and play positions” phase. Bonus points if you can teach them to pass with the instep and shoot with the laces.
If you decide to watch it on TV, it’s like basketball – watch the players without the ball more than the player with the ball. You’ll learn a lot more.
I may have missed the kid’s ages here but here’s my philosophy to youth sports: you just need to get as many dang reps in as safely possible. Baseball: have them swinging the bat and throwing the ball in a simulated game time manner as much as possible. Basketball: have them dribbling and shooting as much as possible. Soccer will likely be the same, them defending, dribbling and passing. The graph of skill acquisition to time actually spent working that skill, is basically a linear graph at this age.
Practice should be MOVING all the time, too many ‘smart’ coaches try to teach stuff and young kids don’t learn much by standing around, listening, to smart guys talk about stuff. You drill. Make everything a little game and competition. You rotate kids around so they face every other kid in each drill. You are laying down those neural paths that say “when that guy does this, I counter with that, then he counters with that, then…”
Just get a basic sense of the rules, look up some drills on youtube and follow the above and I think you’ll do fine. The nice thing about not being super interested in the sport is you don’t have to make it complicated.
Just remember passing is key, holding possession of the ball is important and drill the sense of positional play in them. Things cannot change overnight but you will see decent results in about a year or two. If you need more info, feel free to DM me and I can give you a few pointers (been watching English football for about 15 years now)
Look up soccer drills for kids in your child’s age range so you know how to run a practice. We usually warmed up with some stretches and cardio. Then did drills, then ended with a scrimmage.
At that age they need to practice the basics still. Ball control…Trapping, dribbling and passing/shooting with accuracy.
As far as a game plan goes…tell them to get open on offense. Give your teammate someone to pass to. And have them mark an opponent on defense and stay between him and the goal while attempting to deny him the ball
At that age, if you can keep the kids from all bunching up around the ball, you’re making progress. Also… There are plenty of soccer coaching videos on YouTube.
Google Big Sam and play the game how it’s supposed to be played, 4-4-2 and hoof it.
I know literally nothing about playing sports, but this is what I do whenever I have to do a new thing that I don’t know about: you already did the first step which is ordering a book, and I’m sure you can find some more info online, and ideally if you can find one person to talk to who has coached a similar kid’s team, it would be great to be able to talk to them (maybe take them out for coffee and pick their brain if possible?).
I like to create a little guide for myself after doing all my research, either in a notebook or digitally, with each week charted out. My guess is that the first week for you would look something like getting the kids acquainted and doing some basic exercises, and then go from there. I’m sure the book you ordered will have more in depth information, but having my own personalized guide is just the way that I like to process information and adapt to new challenges.
Not sure if this helps at all but good luck and I’m sure your kid will be super proud of you!
Your first piece of luck is that offsides is not enforced by a lot of leagues until U11. And a LOT of people do not understand offsides, so getting the kids to understand that (or worse, the parents) probably doesn’t come into play for you.
There are some basics you should focus on teaching yourself and kids – the rules for a kickoff at the beginning of a game, after goals, and at half time. You also need to understand throw-ins, from proper technique (keep that back foot down!) and strategy – who should do the throw in (usually a defender but not quite always if the ball is being thrown in from the sideline close to your goal.
Kids in the U10 age range will tend to clump up and all chase the ball. As someone else said make 3 lines and assign kids to a line. Switch them around until you figure out who is good where or where they are comfortable.
After that it’s all drills. Most practices for my kids in soccer about half the time was spent playing and half the time was spent doing drills.
This happened to me as well with one of my daughters in that same age group a couple years ago. It was a little frustrating, but worked out fine. I would presume you’re just an AYSO team and not in some sort of selective or club teams so honestly it’s not too bad.
Usually by that age group, the ones who want to get into more competitive levels of play are already doing so in different leagues so the majority of the kids and parents on your team won’t be too crazy or competitive. Since you’ve played other sports yourself, you already know the more important aspects of being a coach (bringing team together, communication, no blame game, etc.). The rules of soccer itself are simple, and there’s plenty of good material on YouTube to give you an idea of what types of drills you should do. You’ll be fine.
At the first practice, maybe bring up the situation. Chances are at least one or more parent on the team has probably coached in the past it might be willing to help.
You will love it, you get a chance to be with your kid and have something to talk about and remember forever. My kids are grown and we still talk about the years I coached them. Soccer at that age is a lot like basketball – pass, move, be in the right spots. Just have fun with the kids, make practice a good time, and it will be a great experience!
On top of all the advice already given: lots of people don’t volonteer because of fear of failing, fear or not belonging or too long commitment, Now that the position of Head coach is filled, by you, ask that they put an ad for 2 assistant coaches, part-time to help you at the beggining if the season or replace you when merdes.
You’ll get plenty of people, Pick one that knows the rules well.
If there are other coaches you’ll be fine. I’m volunteering as my son’s assistant baseball coach this year. Now I’ve played baseball, know what plays should be made but I’m far from athletic and skills teachings isn’t my thing. Between myself and the two others we are doing great. We each have different skills and let eachother do what’s we are best at. If you are the coach that does lineups, tracks who will be there etc (that’s what I do) hopefully the others will have some game knowledge or can teach skills.
It’ll work out fine.
I had the same problem when my son played baseball. Just look up a few drills on YouTube and go for it. If any of the other parents complain, tell them they are more than welcome to take over. Trust me, they will stop complaining.
YouTube University it is!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMEl1jQzvcA/
I’ll tell you this; same thing happened with my Mom when my brother was around 7 and going into soccer. She literally couldn’t care less about any sport and knew absolutely nothing about soccer, yet she went on to go undefeated for 4 seasons straight and was hands down the greatest coach in our area EVER.
So you might get some luck too!
Ask ChatGPT for ideas and to create a schedule for the length of practice, along with an aide with specific instructions on how you should be running drills/what to look for/promote.
You’ll be fine. Kids soccer isn’t that complicated, and you can pick the fundamentals up pretty quick.
TIFU being a Kings fan, more like it.
My gut tells me you will crush it!
Depends on the age group. If young… keep it simple… if older… teach them more strategy so they are challenged.
Just wanted to say thanks for volunteering to coach – it’s a thankless, unpaid job but the kids are there to have fun, they’re not the next Messi (despite what their parents think.)
The biggest piece of advice I have is to rotate all players through every position. The kids can start to work on positional play at that age, but if it’s a rec league then everyone should get a chance to play as an attacker in each game, and everyone gets a turn as goalie at some point in the season.
Don’t play favorites, make sure everyone has the same game time (you’ll probably want to have a system to rotate kids in and out to keep track), ignore the parent saying their special kid should only play as the striker, and have a parent volunteer to set up the sign up genius for snacks.
Listen, you know what your son is gonna remember? He’s gonna remember that you’re gonna be at every one of his games. He’s not gonna give two shits whether you’re a knowledgeable coach or not.
Get a book, a pamphlet or watch some YouTube videos . The goal is to get the ball in the net using your feet, body and no hands. You’ll figure out the rest.
Does your league use trainers? Even town teams are starting to move toward professional training for youth sports. And then the parent volunteers are there to help, make sure kids are in position and are getting fair and equal play time.
My only concern is your son has been playing for several seasons and you claim you know nothing about the sport. Don’t actually go to his games?
Keep training fun. Make sure there’s little downtime where kids are standing around. The more kids are running around making contact with the ball, the more likely they are to improve and stick with the sport.
Depending on the size of the team, divide them into three or four groups for drills. All kids doing one drill at one time leads to drills falling apart and kids standing around socializing.
When my son was about 6, he played soccer. One Saturday, his coach misread the schedule and didn’t show up for their game.
When gametime came, the ref came up to our group and asked who the coach was. We told him he wasn’t there, and he just kinda looked at us dads and said “So one of you can do this, right?”
I looked at the the dad to my left and said “Do you know what you’re doing?” He replied “No.”
So I looked at the dad to my right and said “Do YOU know what you’re doing?” Also no.
So I said “Great! We’ll do it together!”
Day 1: Ask what drills all the kids did on their previous teams. Pick the ones you like and have them do those.
You need to immediately rope some knowledgeable friend in so they can help you out as ‘assistant coach’.
The real fu is calling it soccer.
My son plays on an 8/9 yr old team. I have very little soccer experience too. Our coach is very talented and I really like hearing him work. From watching a few practices, he has really drilled passing away from where the defenders are, looking upfield when dribbling, and probably some other things. I think you should identify what one or two things that will help them develop into great players and have them work on that with continuous feedback and watch them develop. The rest is just organizing them and letting them play and as others said, they’ll get better from repetition. But some things aren’t intuitive and that’s your job to make them see the field better so they make the right plays. I’d feel pretty out of my element too
Work on give and go’s. Remember it’s kids, you aren’t going to have them looking like Barcelona after a few practices.
Today You Showed Up
Fixed it for you.
Watch some YouTube. Enjoy the time. Remember they’re 9, and will act like they are…9. My son is 10 now, I coached him for the last 5 years and have NEVER played soccer. I don’t enjoy watching it. I don’t like playing it. I don’t like… Pretty much anything about it.
That said, there have been no moments that I have enjoyed more over the past 5 years than playing coach. Showing up, high fiving, yelling and jumping up and down in excitement are the highlights of my fall, every year.
Advice: wear a hat that you ONLY wear when you are coaching. At the end of the game, on the way to the car, ask your kid if he wants to hear from Dad or Coach. It’s that answer is Coach, give him ONE critique about the game, then take if your COACH hat. If he says Dad, TAKE OFF THE HAT and LOVE on him. Tell your kid this, too & ask for help to keep you honest. It’s hard to be both, I had to learn how to change after a game.
Good luck, and enjoy!!!
The same thing happened to me years ago! Bought a book, a whistle, a bag of balls, some cones, and a clipboard.
Turns out we had a BLAST! I focused on fun and character building. It was the start of several of the best years of my life.
Google…
Just wing it, they know as much as you 😅👍🏻
Or I guess there’s Ted Laso from what everyone said 😅
FIFA soccer game is a good teacher, only way I know all the rules and strategy.
So I ended up in the same boat with my girls but they were a bit younger at the time. Literally never played a game of soccer in my life. Ended up coaching a few seasons of rec soccer. If it is rec and the kids are pretty new you can stay ahead of them. If they have been playing for a few years and are travel level you are probably not going to be able to pull this off and have to ask for help in the form of another coach who knows the game.
Things to get you started:
Good luck.
Your basketball knowledge will help. Many of the spacing and off-ball concepts are consistent across sports(except for offsides).
My husband played soccer his whole life and volunteered to coach t-ball. YouTube does wonders.
I feel your pain, i’m not a sportsperson in any sense. our team had a severe shortage as well as all the coaches for u9 had kids that all went to the A team for u10. we had someone decide to take head but needed assistant coaches. my son makes me stay for practices so i wound up telling the club manager if you cant find anyone else then i may as well since i’ll be there any ways. if i was in your position may want to see if there is a soccer coach you could hire to work with you/the team for a couple weeks
Here’s the structure I used for my practices from age 8 to 15.
I also have some skill sheets I can send your way later)
Conditioning and playing good defense are ubiquitous and translate well in any sport. For drills that’s age group dependent- if you want more in depth stuff , happy to help
Be there for the kiddo! Unless all the kids are 15+ you’re going to be teaching sportsmanship, and the very basics of soccer.
I’d suggest reading a book on coaching soccer. They will have many great resources on practice structure, strategy, and keeping the kids engaged. Small sided games, drills are the best. Every kid touching the ball as often as possible. If you teach them nothing else, at least teach them how to stop and pass the ball with their instep. This alone is a skill most youth soccer teams do not have.
You’ll want an assistant for sure. Games get hectic and let them deal with the kids in the sidelines while you focus on the games.
There were free coaching clinics in my area too when I first started. I had little soccer experience when I started out coaching my kids and ended up loving it.
I’ve been there, assigned to coach with no experience and little time to prep.
Look up soccer drills on Youtube, focus on the basics, read up on books about coaching youth soccer. Reach out to other soccer coaches online or in person, reach out to parents who may have experience in soccer
Being the HC is mostly about planning and organization and motivation.
What you need to focus on is having a practice and game plan. Keeping the kids busy during practice, you don’t want a lot of standing around, and if there are any assistants that know anything about fundamentals; lean on them.
Recruit some Europeans or South Americans. Instruct the rest of the kids to always give the ball to them lol
It’s been said before, but watch a few YouTube videos on basics and age appropriate drills. Then make it fun for the kids and have fun yourself. Lastly your kid won’t remember this as the time you effed up. They’ll remember when their dad stepped up and volunteered.
You’ll be fine. I played 30 years, coached, and was beaten by dads who were American Football coaches. The keys are relating to and motivating the players. Yes, positions and good skill building is important, but being able to talk to kids is most important at rec soccer.
Might want to have a look here:
/r/soccercoachresources
Check out Coach Rory on YouTube.
Have a plan, but don’t overplan. Keep practices simple and fun.
Good luck! You got this!
Don’t get overwhelmed. Focus on the simple facts here.
No?
Then you step in until such a time there IS someone better qualified.
Yes?
Then teach them SPORTS. These are kids learning the very basics of the basics. Sportsmanship, teamwork, overcoming trepidation, managing fear, getting back out there, being respectful in victory, etc etc. These are the things you KNOW. These are the things you teach.
No?
Then put your team to work. A good leader knows how and where to delegate. Let the good players teach the newer, weaker players. Get other parents out there and use their strengths.
You are coaching a T E A M.
Go out there and let the team BE a team.
Focus on the basics and don’t worry about any burning bridges until you come to the,
You got this. You may not think so, but your son thinks you got this and THAT says a lot considering he has had numerous coaching relationships for the last few years.
Getting a beginners coaching book is the right move. Start with learning the fundamental rules of the game. It’s pretty easy. You say you are a Kings fan, so in terms of position of the players relative to the ball when figuring out offsides, it’s the same as with the hockey puck. It’ll be easier than you probably think… and I’m sure there are a ton of YouTube videos.
FWIW, my dad had never played soccer, but when we were kids was a coach on my sisters team. He loved it. Got the book, read it, and figured it out. Those books will come with drills. Hopefully will even tell you how best to run a practice.
You will do great. You have 3 weeks to get rolling. It seriously won’t take too long.
I know this sounds hokey, but if you have a gaming console, pick up a FIFA game and integrate it into your learning. It might help you visually figure some of the stuff out.
You got this! And kudos to you for doing something outside your comfort zone for your kid.
EDIT: I’m realizing you mean Sacramento Kings basketball, not LA Kings hockey. Oh well… if you know anything about hockey, it would help.
OMG this exact thing happened to me. I signed up to volunteer, to be helpful, and they informed me 2 days before the first practice that I was the coach. I don’t even know the rules of soccer. Literally zero. I googled a bit but then was just honest with the kids (9 yo boys). I had them run around then told them that I’m a Mom who wanted to help the team but I don’t know as much as they do about soccer. There was plenty of eye-rolling, but they were able to tell me what they usually did in practice and who liked playing which position. Then at games I talked with the other parents, who were helpful. It was still kind of a disaster, but they did win some games.
This happened to my dad, he just let us have fun, took our suggestions about what to do and let the assistant coach run the practice drills and stuff. He only did it so that we would have a coach at all.
So many of my buddies have ended up like this when their kids first started playing a sport. With the most recent one an old teammate of mine was talking to me about his son starting hockey and I was like “just watch you’re gonna end up having to coach” and sure enough haha.
Yeah you’ll figure it out, yeah you’ll be fine, but man I sympathize with you. Thats just extra work and responsibility added on top of everything else you’re already taking care of. Good luck man.
Got the same exact book when I ended up coaching my son’s soccer team with zero previous knowledge. Hopefully he’s not too old and still at the controlled chaos stage. You can do it!
Trust me, this will end up being the most meaningful part of your week. I’ve been coaching my kids, never having done it before, and my wife signed me up for it without asking me. Nothing more satisfying than seeing kids develop, overcome challenges, and learn. Jump in with both feet you’ll be great. One thing I learned over my time was it is not about winning. It’s about each child and the kids progressing. Don’t sweat the wins and losses. Just keep them learning! Coaching kids is just as much about the life lessons team sports can give them than the results on the pitch. Good luck!
Watching the movie Next Goal Wins (2023) might also help.
A few dads in my kid’s soccer league were in the same boat as you. They never played or really even watched soccer. One was a basketball guy and the other was a hockey guy. They figured it out and coached the kids from 2nd to 5th grade, occasionally with other dads who knew soccer as assistant coaches. You got this.
Just think about drills for shooting, like putting them in a line and having them kick balls at someone in the goal (whether it’s you or someone else), have them practice being goalie, practice in smaller groups like 3×3, then do a scrimmage at the end. During games, try to balance everyone’s playing time and try to figure out the positions the kids are best at, while giving them a chance to try other positions (rotating defense and offense).
The big challenge, when coaching soccer, isn’t to give the right directions. That’s easy, you can learn it in a day. The big challenge is getting the kids to follow those directions, and to focus on doing the little things right. You don’t need to know soccer to accomplish that, you need leadership and social skills.
Clever tactics don’t matter, at the junior level. Training methods matter fairly little as well. The only real difference you can make, as a coach, is by imposing discipline in training and during the games: making sure everyone knows what their job is, and does it. And the most important rule: pass the fucking ball. All the time. Fast. That’s the number one thing players need to get good at in training, and that’s the number one thing they need to do in games.
Hey man, my dad coached my youth team for a couple years growing up… he still doesn’t know shit about soccer. But at that age it’s all about simple skills and developing teamwork through communication.
He’ll always remember his dad being his coach and that’s something you’ll definitely be able to cherish.
Hey OP, you can sign up for free at USSOCCER as an aspiring coach and the first basic learning modules are free, then you have some other modules you can access for like 20 bucks. They are designed for people who are starting to coach youth and it’s super helpful to get the basics down.
Source: I’m also doing it because I want to volunteer as well!
That’s why you’ll do well.
You understand competitive athletics, and you have fresh eyes about learning the sport.
Learn as quickly as you can and keep it fun for the kids.
My father was my soccer coach for a few years in my youth and it’s a core memory that i cherish.
Just look up some Total Football videos and blow everyone’s mind.
Looks like you’re on your way to a new obsession.
I found myself in a similar situation except I did dabble in the sport in a small recreational fashion. I just watched some YouTube videos on coaching little league; there’s a surprisingly good amount of info out there. At the end of the day, you’re a hero to your kid and appreciated by all of the parents. People will pick up on your effort more than the quality of your coaching, so just get out there and do your best!
Embrace your new life Coach!
My dad did exactly this about 35 years ago. We lived in a small town in and barely anyone had even heard of soccer at the time and they decided to start a youth soccer league. No lie, my dad had only heard of the game about a week before he volunteered to coach. He and the other coach on the team rented a video and got books at the library to teach them how to play, then they coached. You’ll be fine. Just make sure that the main priorities are fun and safety, everything else is distantly behind.
Hey, US Soccer has amazing resources you can study for coaching at his level. I have taken both online and in person classes to help get me up to speed. I just finished my first full year as a head coach of older kids (U16). It’s an amazing experience. Your son is going to be playing short field with 7 on 7.
Just keep the philosophy that you want to maximize the number of touches each player gets in practice. USA Soccer’s guidance is to do a Play – Practice – Play training session where as soon as kids start arriving you have them do small sided games with cones for goals and give them something to focus upon, like, “Let’s focus on winning the ball back on defense today.”
Then in the practice portion you talk more about winning the ball back, what they think it means, how should they try to do it, what risks might they take and how to avoid them, etc. Then there’s a guided practice of winning the ball with drills.
Then finally you do a larger 7v7 game where they focus on winning back the ball. If you have more than 14 kids (like say 15) then do three teams of 5 and have one team rotate in after a goal or 2-3 minutes of playing time.
This site will really, really help you. U.S. Soccer Learning Center
And you’ll probably have to do Safe Sport through them anyway so registering now makes it easier.
Good luck and feel free to DM me if you have more questions. I’m no expert but I’m trying to learn.
This is not a FU. You are probably going to have a great time. You have a background in sports that will translate in many ways. Plan on having two practices a week that are an hour long each. Kids this age do not need to go through an extensive warmup to prevent injury. For the first 10 minutes of every practice have them play 1v1 or 2v2. This will make sure everyone is getting touches on the ball. You just need to use cones for the goals. Have 5 or 6 mini fields setup so no one is waiting and on one side have the players move 1 field to their left every 90 seconds to two minutes so they get a new opponent. Then do drills for 30 minutes with appropriate water breaks and end practice with a full team scrimmage for the last 15 minutes. Hopefully you will have an assistant that can either monitor a drill or get the next drill setup so you can move smoothly from one activity to the next. if you need the players to be occupied while you set something up then have them practice juggling. if you can afford it have a juggling contest after every game and offer to by a shaved ice/ice cream for any player that can do 10 or 20 consecutive juggles. Here are some useful links: https://learning.ussoccer.com/coach https://learning.ussoccer.com/coach/blog/2255 https://www.soccerdrive.com/soccer-drills/age-level/u10 https://www.soccerdrive.com/soccer-practice-plans/u10
Try to avoid lines whenever possible- you want the players being active not waiting.
On the administrative side get a team parent to handle snacks, shade structures, etc. so you don’t have to deal with that stuff. GET your livescan, background check, safesport, and mandated reporter training done ASAP. It takes a few hours for all of that to be completed but you don’t want kids to miss a game or practice because the coach didn’t get the admin stuff completed.
9-year-old soccer is not that taxing. You’ll be able to use some of your basketball knowledge in terms of ball movement and spacing (just on a bigger scale) and talking/teamwork. Read the book you ordered, watch a few games on tv to see what the “ideal” is (though the kids will come nowhere near it), and watch a few YouTube videos on drills to run in practice. In addition, if it’s a league like AYSO, they actually have workshops and other events for new coaches to learn so you’ll be fine.
Good luck!
My brother did this for his son’s mini rugby team – it was going to fold without a volunteer coach, he’s never played a match in his life. He found some coaching courses and watched a shit load of videos on YouTube. He’s been doing it 4 years now and last season his team won the age grade league. You can do it!
the basic drill that we practiced as kids was “monkey in the middle” where a group formed a circle and 1 or 2 people in the center tried to intercept the ball. ideally the players don’t keep the ball, they just pass it as soon as they receive it. this is the same drill that’s the basis of high-level soccer, it’s what Pep Guardiola had his players do at barcelona and Man City. it teaches players to always know where their teammates are and always be ready to pass the ball.
Binge Ted Lasso, find yourself a Beard, and party on.
(There are lots of great actual advice already on the thread so… just go have a ball with your kid. This is how memories are made. I wish my had been able to do stuff like this with me)
Put out some cones teach fundamentals and let all the kids play different positions
The US Soccer resources everyone is giving you are good, I also like this site for finding drills, most of them have pictures and also explain how to set it up. You can sort by age, type of skill, offense/defense, and some other options too.
Soccer Coach Weekly
Get some books on coaching kids’ soccer. You also need a rule book.
At that age and level, try to teach them to create good amounts of space between the players and move the ball that way instead of swarming and trying to have one person carry the ball through the entire opposing team
I got roped into coaching rec-league soccer for all three of my kids. Basically coached a bunch of teams starting at 5 to around 9. My one daughter moved up to play travel and I was off the hook. My other two kids played Rec.
The key thing I tried to do was to let them have fun. Let them play forward and defense. Rotate the goalie. Let them play with their buddies, but also split them up as well.
Depending on the level of competitiveness, you could focus on logistics. Make sure everyone plays roughly the same amount of time. Same amount of offense. Same amount of defense. Same amount of goalie.
If you want to put a little more emphasis on winning. Focus on getting them to work as a unit. Show them how much faster they can move downfield by passing, rather than exclusively dribbling. Let the defense play forward, but make sure the midfielders are aware that they may have to drop back on n defense to cover a defender that is pressing up.
At this level, the same basic fundamentals of all sports still apply. It’s easier to play when there are fewer defenders around the ball, so spread out, get into passing lanes, and make crisp passes.
On defense, I like to tell them to be annoying. Think about what they don’t like defenders doing to them, and do that. Make contact with the guy with the ball as most are not skilled enough to dribble with someone draped all over them.
coached for 12 years 8-19 year olds. i can help if you want. dm me
First lesson, any parents that start batching about games. Make them come down and run a session of practice. They put up ot shut up and make sure they include everyone and not just work with little spawn.
You’ll be fine. Elementary school Rec soccer is easy, just let them scrimmage at practice – they will pretty much self organize and want to play the whole time. Do some jumping jacks and stretches to start – then set up the goals and make teams. Then, watch and make sure they don’t injure each other. For games, the only thing that matters at this age is even playing time. Make a system to rotate them in and out evenly. Ask for volunteers to play defense – those kids are automatic starters and maybe play a bit longer (otherwise everyone just wants to try to score). That’s it. Just Have fun – your kid will secretly think you are a hero.
(Communicating effectively to the other parents is actually the only hard part. Good luck!)
just watch ted lasso for pointers
Just say “down the line!” and “i want see some hustle!” every now and then and you’re good
Everybody suggesting some weird cowboy movie when the documentary “Kicking and Screaming” is all you need to learn soccer fast
Watch Ted Lasso. You don’t need experience to be a great coach. You just need the drive.
Just bench your son and if he complains, tell him to have his Dad talk to you about it.
You 100% un-fucked up by volunteering and stepping up. The kids will remember how you treated them, that you were kind, that you were fair, that they felt safe there. And you’ll help teach them how to get along and support each other and be good sports. Just drilling fundamentals will make them better.
Coaching softball wasn’t my forte but we made sure to ficus on those things that mattered. You can do it!
I think you’ll be totally OK, just focus on letting them have fun and team building and learning to help each other.
My daughter was on a soccer team when she was about 6 and it was a complete disaster, mostly because the other kids had way more experience and the coach focused more on winning than having fun and helping your teammates.
She absolutely hates soccer now unfortunately.
Good thing though, she’s been learning to skate and play hockey for a year and the coach says she’s good enough to be on a team this fall. She is kinda a badass hockey player, and one of the only girls. I credit the coaches and parent volunteers for making this happen. Just have a good time!
Half of it is just telling them not to pick the grass
When I started they begged me to be head coach because they were going to cancel the season if it wasn’t me. Hated the game originally. Bought coaching soccer for dummies. 10 years and multiple championships later I love the game. Here’s what you need to know: put them in a 4-4-2 formation and tell them where to go when you have the ball and when you don’t have the ball. There are barely any adjustments that can be made during the game other than substitutions. Make sure everybody plays and has a good time and you’ll be fine.
Did you tell anyone that you didn’t know anything about soccer so as to be a coach? There has to be someone who knows it better.
I don’t know soccer that well and have never played it either. I would watch as many games as I can, pick the brain of people who have played and/orr coached and do as much research as possible, including but not limited to the other trams, what to look out for mid game, my players and what their strengths and weaknesses are, as well as perhaps different plays and schemes. You have experience with other sports, so that proves beneficial. Be open-minded. Think outside the box. Take it as another challenge that you’ll excel at.
If you have better conditioning you will win. Run run run and then run some more.
Watch Ted Lasso
Fellow dad coach who was once in a similar position. For U9/10 they will play 7 a side (at least we do in Australia). The most common formation is 2-3-1. From back to front of pitch it looks like this:
Try to get them hold the shape as best they can (eg: as the ball is moved forward the whole shape should move forward. The defenders may go as high as halfway).
At this age it’s good to rotate them each game so everyone gets a turn in each position. I found a whiteboard useful so you can show them where on the pitch they should be before they go on (my kids always forgot).
For training drills, google 2v2 and 3v3 drills. They are easy to coach and good for players as will have them attacking, defending and making transitions between the two. Training sessions can consist of dribbling, some shooting, 2v2, short game.
Keep it relaxed and fun – you’ll be fine.
https://preview.redd.it/28kcwp0k9cgf1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5742d18f097d9127e51ee148c10f4272b754429
Edit: Most important tip! If any of the other parents are interested, dedicate a couple of training sessions in the season to a parents v kids game. It was the absolute highlight of the season for everyone.
U10? You got this. Look up drills for practice. Triangle passing is key at this age there should be a lot more passing than long dribbling up the field. Pass pass pass the ball!
Here’s how you line them up:
Tallest kid up top (put a head brace on them)
Widest or most acrobatic kid in goal (unless they are one of the fastest, in which case see below)
Play 3 at the back. You’ll want one brick shithouse, one small chihuahua-type kid, and one that loves the sound of their own voice in between them
On either flank, put your fastest kids
In the middle of the pitch, put two kids with anger management issues and one kid that is good at puzzles/pattern recognition
Above them, play a creative kid. Ideally, you want an artist type, but a theater kid will do in a pinch.
Once the match starts, have them hoof the ball up the pitch and get legal parts of their bodies on it. Teach them to play fair, not dive, and put their laces through it when they kick the ball. Congrats, you’re a proper footie coach now.
Watch the goals roll in. Bosh.
Watch Mike Bassett England manager, it will help you.
Ok start with a warm up and stretches, make them do a lap or two.
Then get them to line up. Pass the ball to each of them, they have a shot each against a goalie. One touch.
Same again, but line up half the kids opposite to come in as defenders one at a time.
Then set out a square. Give them all a ball each. Game is to keep your ball in the square and get others out by tackling them. Last one with a ball wins.
Then short practice match to finish.
Formation is 442 so they basically know where to be on the pitch. Shout at them not to all chase the ball, get them marking opponents.
When I was a kid this is how it was, and it was what I looked forward to all week.
BELIEVE